Trump's account, which Twitter had suspended after the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 citing the risk of further incitement of violence, was reinstated over the weekend. Some 90% of Twitter's revenue comes from selling digital ads.
A coalition of civil rights activists on Monday were urging
Twitter's advertisers to issue statements about pulling their ads off the
social media platform after its owner Elon Musk lifted the ban on tweets by
former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump's account, which Twitter had suspended after the U.S.
Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 citing the risk of further incitement of violence,
was reinstated over the weekend. Some 90% of Twitter's revenue comes from
selling digital ads.
The groups in the Stop Toxic Twitter coalition complained
that Musk had vowed to advertisers that Twitter would take a considered
approach to reinstating banned accounts and convene a new content moderation
council. No such council has been created as of Monday.
"It was a real breach," Angelo Carusone, president
of Media Matters, a left-leaning media watchdog that is part of the coalition,
said on Monday. He said Musk "was lying from the beginning."
"In less than three weeks Musk has gone back on every
promise he made to civil-rights leaders and advertisers," said Jessica
Gonzalez, co-chief executive of media and democracy group Free Press, which is
also part of the Twitter coalition, in a press release.
Twitter, which lost much of its communications team when
Musk slashed the staff shortly after taking over, did not immediately respond
to request for comment.
This month, Musk complained that pressure from the activists
had already caused a "massive drop in revenue."
Twitter began reinstating banned or suspended accounts late
last week including the comedian Kathy Griffin as well as Trump.
The platform also reinstated the personal Twitter account of
U.S. House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday.
Of Twitter's top 100 advertisers by total spending this
year, 51 have paused ads according to private conversations with the coalition,
public statements or spending data provided by ad measurement firm Pathmatics,
Carusone said.
The coalition is asking brands that have not publicized
their Twitter pause to issue public statements and help generate pressure on
the other 49 advertisers that have taken no action, he said.
"You need to take a stand and draw the line,"
Carusone said. "It's important for big spenders to say they have
stopped."
The coalition will consider naming the companies later this
week if they have not issued a public statement about pausing ads, he added.
Musk tweeted Saturday that Twitter would reinstate the
former president's account after a slim majority voted yes on Musk's poll about
the issue.
The names atop the list of Twitter's top advertisers have
shifted from the week before Musk closed his deal to acquire the company. Major
brands HBO and Mondelez were Twitter's top two advertisers in the week before
the acquisition, according to data from Pathmatics. But between Nov. 10 and
Nov. 16, after Musk laid off half of Twitter's staff, the top two largest
advertisers were FinanceBuzz.io, a personal finance website and Trendytowns, an
ecommerce site based in Singapore.
Pathmatics data showed that the top 100 advertisers between
Nov. 10 to Nov. 16 spent an estimated $23.6 million on Twitter, down from $24.
2 million spent between Oct. 16 to Oct. 22 before Musk became Twitter's owner.